In semiconductor manufacturing, several processes have been developed to produce a SOI device having a thin buried oxide (BOX) region disposed therein. One such process used in the prior art to produce BOX regions is referred to as SIMOX (separation by implantation of oxygen). In this process, the BOX region is fabricated by first implanting oxygen using high ion doses (&gt;4.times.10.sup.17 cm.sup.-2) followed by annealing at high temperatures (&gt;1300.degree. C.) Despite the current advances made in this field most of the prior art SIMOX processes produce a BOX region which is electrically inferior to thermally created oxide regions. Moreover, prior art SIMOX processes often times create a BOX region which contains silicon islands buried within the BOX. Typically, BOX regions produced using prior art SIMOX processes have discrete regions of thicknesses of about 1000 .ANG. or 2000 .ANG.. These thicknesses are determined by the implanted oxygen dose which is in the range of about 4-5.times.10.sup.17 cm.sup.-2 for the 1000 .ANG. thick BOX and about 8-10.times.10.sup.17 cm.sup.-2 for the 2000 .ANG. thick BOX. Thinner continuous BOX regions cannot be obtained using prior art SIMOX processes. Moreover, the prior art use of high ion doses to create a BOX region in a semiconductor substrate is not economical and is usually four to six times the bulk-silicon cost. This high cost makes the use of prior art SOI materials undesirable.
In view of the drawbacks mentioned hereinabove concerning prior SIMOX processes of fabricating a BOX region in a semiconductor material, there remains a need for providing a new and improved method of creating a BOX region in SOI materials. Specifically, it would be desirable to provide a new method wherein a continuous BOX region could be created in a semiconductor substrate having a wide range of thicknesses.